The Fairy Tale Trap
by FakeDoll
Summary: The trio, Ginny, Neville and Luna are thrown into an alternative world, and their only way out is to travel through each fairytale they've landed in. Please R&R D
1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting, radiating a gorgeous pink glow over Hogwarts. A small breeze was settling over the grounds, rifling over the tree tops, and rippling the water of the lake. Two students were by a tree, as big as the Whomping Willow - but less dangerous - working on their homework. The shadow the tree cast, led to the lake, where one of the students was standing, looking into the sunset, with smooth pebbles in his hands.

"Ron!" called a girls voice.

The boy threw the last of the small rocks into the water, and headed back up to where his friend was sitting. Hermione had been concentrating on her home work, for the last few hours. But now, as he approached her, he saw she was putting her books away, into her bag, and pulling out another, heavy looking book.

"Have you finished all your work, Ron?" she asked, as he moved the branches away from his face, and sat down next to her.

"Er, yea. Whats that?" Ron lied, trying to distract her, by gesturing to the book, which was now on her lap. Her eyes lit up with childish excitement, and she opened the cover, leading to a blank page of parchment. Ron stuffed his unfinished work into his bag, as she flipped the pages, to the content list.

"I got it out of the Library this afternoon." she said, trailing her finger down the list of stories. There was only three:

_Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_

_Little Red Riding Hood_

_Sleeping Beauty_

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?" Ron asked, reading the first line, frowning. Hermione smiled, and flipped a few more pages, to the beginning of the fairytale.

"This is a book of Fairy Tales, Ron," she explained. Ron, who never usually was interested in such things, found the book drawing him in. He began to recite the first few lines, getting more and more into it after each word. Hermione leaned her head back against the tree, and listened, whilst looking at the sunset dreamily. She found herself soundlessly moving her lips along to the story, having read it so much as a little girl, she knew it all off by heart. The way he read, was so soothing, that her eyes started to flicker shut, but she never let her concentration wander away from what he was saying. After five minutes, though, his voice trailed off, and left a silence, which wasn't even disturbed by the breeze. He eyes sprung open, and a small gasp slipped from her.

The world around them, the lake, the sunset, was whirring so fast, around and around, that she had to clamp her eyes shut. She felt the book, the heavy weight on her lap, slide off. Her hands grabbed out for it, but it was gone.

Ron, who, thankfully, was still sitting next to her, grabbed hold of her arm. His fingers dug into her skin, and she opened her eyes, and looked at him in alarm.

"Whats going on!" she yelled, but he couldn't hear a word she was saying. His eyes were closed, and his forehead furrowed, as he held onto her for dear life. She huddled her head against his, and closed her eyes again.

Minutes passed, and the whooshing sounds that had penetrated their ears suddenly stopped. Hermione was the first who braved to look. Slowly flickering her eyes open, she leaned up, and looked around in shock. They were both still sitting on the grass, and were still leaning against a tree. But it was different grass, and it was a different tree. The gorgeous sunset, which had loomed beautifully over the lake, was gone. In fact, so had the lake. Instead, they were surrounded by trees, thick rooted trees, that could only have been raised from a healthy forest. A forest, indeed, was where they had landed up.

"Ron," Hermione hissed, jabbing him in the chest with her arm, which he was still clinging onto.

His eyes shot open, and he let go of her arm in an instant, his face reddening. Then he looked around.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, jumping up from where he was sitting, knocking Hermione back, to which she bumped her head rather heavily on the tree behind her. She blinked rapidly, her head swimming in pain. Getting up, she looked at him angrily, the words she was about to say, caught in her throat. She was making odd noises, trying to spit out what she was going to say. He looked at her in surprise, and jumped back, yelling.

"What the hell! What are you wearing?" Ron yelled, pointing at her with a shaking finger.

"Thats what I was going to say, to _you_!" Hermione snapped back, but then stopped. Looking down, all ability to talk had gone. She could see, that her usually bushy, uncontrollable hair, was now black, sleek, and braided. She could see the ends of each braid lying gently over her shoulders. She felt them and gasped, as her fingers brushed against silk material. Running her hands down her dress, she stopped at the skirt, and grasped at it. It was pure white silk, with little pink flowers embroidered onto it. She stumbled over to Ron, who caught her before she fell over, and looked at her feet. Petite, glass slippers were the reason she fell, and they were held on to her feet with a strap of the same silk from her dress.

"Wow... Ron, how am I wearing this? How are you wearing that?" she asked, in a rush of excitement. Ron looked at her, confused, then looked at his arm, which she was clinging on to. He was wearing a red jacket, he jumped away from Hermione in shock. Under the red jacket - which had golden buttons - was a white buttoned up shirt. His black trousers were gone, replaced a pair of brown, _tweed_ ones. Unlike Hermione, Ron was not happy.

"I look like a prat!" he said in disgust. Hermione rolled her eyes, and smiled. Walking awkwardly over to him, she took the collar of his jacket, and straightened it out.

"No, you don't. You look like a prince." she commented, examining the buttons. "Are they really made of gold?" she added.

He ignored her, deep in thought.

"Where are we?" he said. She shrugged, glancing around. "I mean, are we in the Forbidden Forest, or what?"

Hermione's eyes shot back to look at him. Being in the Forbidden Forest was not good. Filled with creatures which could kill you in a second, it was a fatal mistake to enter the forest, without at least Hagrid by your side.

"Maybe we should find a way out of here?" she suggested, pulling her skirt up a bit, stopping it getting dirty from the earth. Ron was about to answer, when a loud howl sounded through the tree's. He stopped, and choked on his words. Recovering quickly, he grabbed Hermione, and started to run. "No maybe about it!" he yelled.

After a few minutes of non-stop running, Hermione finally couldn't take it anymore, and yelled for Ron to stop.

"My feet!" she groaned, slumping against a tree, out of breath and in pain. "These shoe's were not made to run in."

Ron did not seem to want to wait around. In fact, he was bouncing on the balls of his feet in impatience. Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, breathing heavily, trying to regain her strength. Before she knew what was happening, Ron had grabbed her by the waist and legs, and hoisted her up. He was carrying her, like you would a baby, and she screamed in surprise. After five minutes of her yelling at him to let her go, he finally let her down. She grasped onto a tree, and straightened herself up, wincing in pain as she put weight on her feet. And they started again.

A long while later, the vast amount of trees started to thinned out. They could see sun light, which streamed strongly through the branches of the surrounding trees. Ron wouldn't let Hermione stop again, until they reached the last few trees. If it hadn't been for the beautiful dress she had on, she'd of crawled the rest of the way. Leaving Hermione to catch her breath, Ron walked to the end of the forest, and cautiously walked out onto the tree free field.

He didn't know what to think. They were safe from the forest now, but, as he looked around, it was very clear that they were no longer in the grounds of Hogwarts. He peered over to where the field cut dead. A massive wall stopped the green flow of grass, and Ron could see a distant outline of turrets behind.

"Where on earth are we?" Hermione said, joining him. She was limping, and holding the two glass shoes in her hands. Her eyes traveled over the field, and her heart dropped. "We're no where near Hogwarts, are we?" she muttered.

Ron didn't reply, he seemed to be lost in concentration, squinting into the distance. Suddenly, he jumped backwards.

"What? What is it?" said Hermione in surprise. He still didn't reply, and she turned around, nearly tripping over the hem of her skirt as she did.

A large man, carrying an equally large axe, was approaching them, quicker then they felt necessary. Backing away, Hermione gasped, and Ron had to blink a couple of times. The man was uncannily like... Hagrid.

"Snow White!" said the humongous man, as soon as he got into ear shot. He thankfully lowered the axe, and slowed his pace, out of breath. Hermione found Ron's arm, without taking her eyes off of the stranger.

"Er... Hagrid?" said Ron nervously, but the man ignored him. He stopped, and looked straight at Hermione.

"Snow White, you must not be here." his eyes were pleading, "You know you shouldn't. If the Queen were to find out... she'd have both our heads!" he spluttered out, leaning against the end of the axe for support.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I don't quite... understand?" Hermione said in confusion. She looked at Ron for support, but he seemed to be lost in thought again. Shoving her arm into his chest, he whimpered, and looked at her startled. As the man regained his breath, she leaned over to Ron.

"I think Hagrid's gone mad, Ron." Hermione hissed, looking worried.

"He called you Snow White." Ron pointed out, as if that explained everything.

"Exactly my point, Ron" she snapped back. Before Ron could say anymore, the man started talking again.

"I mean, fair maiden, that the Queen wanted your heart so she knew for sure you were dead. And instead i gave her the heart of a pig. She must never see you again." he said, stumbling back and taking a deep breath again.

Hermione was thoroughly confused now, and she looked over to Ron yet again, and he was giving her the same thoughtful look.

"Right... Well, er, I'll go?" she suggested.

"Yes, through the forest," he said, as relief flooded over his face. She slowly began to back away, dragging Ron along with her. Once out of earshot of the man, who seemed not to want to move until he was sure she had gone, Ron turned to her.

"That was weird-" Hermione said, but Ron cut into her sentence.

"You're Snow White." he said weakly. She glared at him.

"Hogwarts must be back through this way." she said, pulling her shoes back on, uncomfortably.

Ron stared at her in disbelief. "Hermione, didn't you hear what any of that?" he asked.

"I worry about Hagrid sometimes," she continued, ignoring Ron. "It's like he's living in a fairytale."

Ron was quiet for a moment, and followed her slowly as she started to move back over to the trees. "The problem is, Hermione... I think we are too," he said quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

It was early evening, and Ginny Weasley was taking a refreshing stroll around the grounds before dinner was ready. She approached the Lake, and stopped for a while, to watch the glistening ripples, and how the slowly rising moon reflected upon the water. As she turned to head back towards the castle, something in the moonlight caught her eye. Over by a tree, she noticed two abandoned school bags. She walked over to them, and noticed a big library book was there as well. Kneeling down, she examined the bags, and realised that one of them belonged to her brother, Ron. Looking at the other, she recognised it as Hermione's. Frowning, she picked up the heavy book, reading the front cover - 'The Book of Fairy Tales'. Curiosity got the best of her, and she couldn't help opening the book, and reading the contents page.

"Oh! Little Red Riding Hood" she whispered to herself as she looked at the names of the three stories.

A noise behind her, like a crunching of leaves, and snapping of twigs, made her jump and look around. A dark figure was looming out of the shadows, and Ginny gasped and stumbled back, tripping over the bags that were behind her. Landing painfully on her backside, she looked up fearfully, as the figure walked into the moonlight. Then...

"Are you ok?" Neville asked, leaning over and helping her up. She sighed with relief and annoyance.

"Yes. You really shouldn't sneak around like that." she said, straightening herself out.

"Sorry," he muttered, looking highly embarrassed. Ginny leaned over and picked up the bags and book.

"Its ok now. Have you seen Ron or Hermione around, by any chance?" she asked him. He shook his head.

Sighing again, Ginny slowly started to make her way up to the castle, with Neville by her side. Every now and then she'd look dreamily down at the book in her hands, as if desperate to open it up and read it.

"What is that book about?" Neville asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Ginny smiled.

"A book of Fairy Tales. My favourite tale is Little Red Riding Hood." she looked over to Neville, who looked utterly confused.

"Little Red... What?" he said. Glad of a chance to open the book again, Ginny stopped dead in the middle of the grounds, and flipped the book open, to the beginning of Little Red Riding Hood. Neville peered over her shoulder to look at the pictures, as she started to read the book out. As she got into the first paragraph, a massive gust of wind came out of no where. It blew at them, making stepping forward impossible to do. The wind was pulling their hair and robes with it, so eventually, they both fell backwards, and Ginny lost grip of the heavy book and the school bags as she fell.

It was quite a heavy landing, and painful, seeing as Ginny had only just recovered from her last mishap. She looked over at Neville, whose eyes were clenched shut. She shook at his shoulder.

"Get up, its ok, the winds gone." she said kindly. He peeked open an eye, looking over to her. Then, when he got a proper look at her, he yelled and crawled away from her. Ginny looked over to him in surprise and confusion.

"Neville! Wait, whats wrong?" she yelled after him. Pulling herself up and starting after him, it was then she realised that she was surrounded by trees. Trees weren't there a couple of minutes before. Neville seemed to have realised this as well, and he stopped mid crawl to look around. Ginny noticed this, and caught up with him. "Whats going on here? Why did you run away?" she demanded at him.

He didn't say anything, just pointed a shaking finger at her. Still confused, Ginny looked down. What she saw made her jump as well. She had on a long, elegant, velvet cloak, bright red, with a hood on the other side. She ran her fingers over the material, pulling it up for closer inspection.

"Wow," she breathed in amazement. Then she looked at what used to be her school skirt and shirt, was now a black silky dress, trailing long enough to trip her up. "Neville... What am I wearing?" she asked.

"Er.. a black dress and red cloak... with a hood," he said, which was unnecessary really. She knew what she was wearing. "Why has your clothes changed?" he added, nervously. Ginny chewed her lips, and looked up at him, properly.

"I don't know... Why have yours?" she asked, laughing slightly at his reaction to her words.

He looked down at himself, in the same manner Ginny had done, and jumped slightly. His black Hogwarts robes and uniform had gone. Instead, he was wearing a white shirt, too old fashion for Hogwarts attire, a waist jacket made of some sort of animal skin, and a jacket of animal fur. He looked disgusted by this, and then he looked at his legs. He was wearing very un-stylish brown trousers.

"I look... Horrible," he declared, dismay written over his face. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"You look like the man in the illustrations, in Little Red Riding Hood," she said cheerfully. Then she stopped smiling. "Wheres the book?" she asked, turning around.

"I think the more important question is, 'Where are we'" Neville said nervously. Ginny had to agree with him there.

"We must have been... blown into the Forbidden Forest," she decided slowly. Neville looked as if he was going to be sick at those words. "Although... That still doesn't explain how our clothes were changed." she added. Neville now looked like he was going to faint.

Ginny grabbed his arm. "Our best bet is to get out of the Forest, then worry about whats going on." she said confidently, beginning to drag a shaking Neville along with her.

They started to move in the direction that Neville had been running, seeing as that was the easiest way to decide where to go. Neville was lagging behind Ginny, looking highly concerned as he glanced at the hood that draped over her shoulders, and down her back. It was red. Little _Red_ Riding _Hood_. And she had said that he looked like the man in illustrations of the tale. The conclusion he had made, was quite simple. They were in deep danger.

"What exactly happens, in, er, Little Red Riding Hood?" he asked, trying to sound casual. Ginny looked at him for a moment, and suddenly delved into the storyline with great enthusiasm.

"Well, Little Red Riding Hood meets a Wolf, who asks her where shes going. He's a very charming wolf, so she tells him," Ginny began. Neville looked at her in disbelief.

"Why on earth would you tell a wolf where you are going?" he exclaimed, looking utterly shocked. Ginny carried on, ignoring his interference.

"She tells him shes visiting her Grandmother, and pointed out what direction she lived." she continued, brushing past stray branches that threatened to knock her out. Neville was getting more and more shocked as she went on.

"So the Wolf goes ahead, and when he gets there, he eats her Grandmother."

"What!"

"And then Riding Hood arrives, and she has a rather fun dialouge with the Wolf, who she believes is her Grandmother," Ginny said, ignoring Neville totally. "But then the Wolf eats her, and goes to sleep."

"This is extremely violent," said Neville nervously, nearly concussing himself with a branch.

"Then the Huntsman chops the Wolf open, with an axe, as it slept, and let out Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother, and filled him back up with rocks," Ginny finished.

After that, there was a long silence. Neville seemed too shocked to speak. Ginny smiled, she loved that story, her mother had read it to her so many times when she was little, it was imprinted in her memory. Although she also felt Neville's worry. She was, after all, wearing a red cloak, with a hood. And he did look a lot like the Huntsman. But this was ridiculous thinking. There was no Wolf, there was no Grandmother, and, she thought as she looked over to Neville, there was no axe.

A tiring half hour later, filled with silent worrying, Ginny slumped against a tree, in frustration. "We're not getting anywhere," she said moodily.

Neville looked relieved for a rest, and easily fell to the floor, looking like a nice little nap was in need. Ginny slid down the tree, into a sitting position, deep in thought. Both in a daze, they didn't realise the slowly approaching noises, of footsteps penetrating the forest floor, and hushed voices, until it was too late to run and hide. Coming through the forest, was a girl with long black hair, put up in braids, wearing a long white dress, which was highly inappropriate for the forest. Behind her was a boy with shocking red hair, wearing a red jacket which clashed horribly, and brown trousers, sort of like the ones Neville had been subjected too. Ginny crawled over to Neville nervously, and was about to get up and run, when she recognised a voice.

"Slow down," said Ron huffily, as he nearly tripped over another tree root, trying to keep up with Hermione. She had surprising will power, seeing as her feet were killing her. Finally, he tripped over a stray branch, and landed awkwardly, face first, in a pile of soggy leaves. Hermione looked back and laughed, but stopped as soon as she caught sight of Neville and Ginny. Ron groaned, and sat up, rubbing his jaw. He looked wearily up to the others.

"Oh, hello Ginny," he said casually. As he sat up, he took a double take. "GINNY!" he cried, looking shocked and happy to see her.

"We were looking for you," Ginny said weakly, leaning over and hugging Ron. Neville got up, and smiled nervously to Hermione.

Ginny got up as well, and looked at Hermione grinning. "You're Snow White, aren't you?" she breathed, taking in the beauty of the dress. "Such a gorgeous dress!" she cooed.

Hermione glared at her. "I am _not_ Snow White." she huffed. "Its not plausible." she added. Her argument to their predicament went unheard though. She had lost the attention of her friends, as they were now looking around themselves nervously. This reaction was caused, naturally, by the loud howl they had heard seconds before.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry glanced at his watch again, getting rather annoyed at this point. He was sitting in the Great Hall, waiting for his two best friends to turn up, yet they were no where to be seen. Hermione was never late, something she was renowned for doing was turning up on time, nearly as annoying as her always turning her homework in on time. It was half way through dinner, and Harry had already finished his main meal, and was trying his best to eat his dessert, without worrying too bad about his friends. It was hard though, seeing as now days it was likely you could get attacked at any moment. He glanced along the Gryffindor table, again, and noticed something else was amiss. Ginny and Neville weren't around either. The worried clenching in his stomach told him something was definitely up, and he jumped out of his seat, and made his way out of the Great Hall, speedily dodging other students. The entrance hall was empty, or so he thought. One moment he was walking with full intent of not stopping until he found his friends, the next he was helping someone up from the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Luna," he said, pulling her up. She smiled at him, in the same dreamy way she usually did, picked her self up. Harry noticed a collection of bags and a heavy old book lying near where she had been.

"Where are they?" he asked desperately, as Luna leaned over to pick the stuff up. She pushed the book into his arms, and he looked at her in some sort of daze.

"Open it," she encouraged, ignoring his question. For some reason, he felt compelled to do as she said, and flipped the books cover over, to see a contents page. Luna stood right up beside him, looking down at the three story titles on the old page. Harry wondered why the book was so heavy when it was only holding three tales. He also wondered what Luna was doing; she was pushing the big and heavy pages over, searching for a particular page whilst he supported the book.

"Luna, we have to find the others!" he protested, but she ignored him, continuing to skip through pages until she found the one she was looking for.

"Read that," she said suddenly, pointing down to the first page of the story of Sleeping Beauty. Harry looked at her in amazement.

"Luna, my friends are missing and you want me to read to you a _fairytale_?" he said in disbelief. All Luna did was smile at him and nod. Harry shook his head, but instead of closing the book and shoving it into her arms, he did what she asked, and started to read the first few lines of the story.

"In times past there lived a king and queen..." Harry read, as Luna leaned her head on his shoulder, reading along silently with him. The more Harry read, the more he got into the story and forgot about his missing friends, and the worry that had been holding onto him released.

As soon as he got to the end of the first paragraph, a sudden invisible force from behind them pushed them forward, and they almost flew to the ground, face first.

Harry grunted in pain as he landed awkwardly on the book, which somehow had closed itself as they had gone forward. He glanced to his left and saw Luna picking herself up, her blue eyes big with amazement as she looked around. Harry followed her gaze, and moved suddenly in shock. A few seconds before they had been standing in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts, and now they were sprawled on a forest floor.

"I'm meant to be finding my friends," Harry said weakly, getting himself off of the book and glaring at it accusingly. Luna was already on her feet and she was walking around slowly, sort of circling around Harry and the book.

"Wow," she muttered finally.

Harry sighed and closed his eyes, hoping that this was all just one nightmare and that when he opened them again he'd be in his bed, knowing that his friends were safely asleep in _their_ beds, and everything would be ok.

"Harry?" Luna asked.

Harry opened his eyes - no such luck.

"Where are we Luna?" Harry asked desperately. He took a better look at her. "And what are you wearing?" he added, nervously stumbling upwards into a standing position. Luna just smiled at his questions and turned around looking at each tree as if it led to a path. Harry was still staring at her in silent shock.

A few seconds before she had been wearing Hogwarts robes, with light blue outlining to present she was a Gryffindor. But now she was wearing a long flowing dress, which left a slight trail behind her. It seemed to be made of pale blue silk and lace, and Harry could just see the peek of darker blue slippers on her feet which were not totally covered by the dresses trail. Around her neck were sapphires melded together into a necklace, and her long dirty blonde hair was blonder then before, being held back ever so slightly with a blue ribbon. Harry was on the verge of letting his mouth drop open in shock, but Luna didn't seem at all preturbed.

"Wha... what are you wearing?" he asked again, wondering if he was seeing things.

"Oh, just her dress," Luna said airily, still looking around the forest. Harry shook his head fiercely, beginning to feel he was missing something here. Who was 'her' and why was Luna wearing her dress?

"What's going on?" he asked feeling she knew more then he did. But all Luna did was smile at him, and lean over to pick up the book.

"Let's go find the others," she said and started to walk away.

"The others? What others?" Harry said catching up with her as she walked determinedly forwards, stepping over fallen branches and avoiding tree roots. Harry tripped and stumbled along with her waiting for her answer, but he didn't get one.

After about five minutes Harry gave up asking her what was happening, because she simply wouldn't answer, and if she did her cryptic clues did nothing for him. Yet he didn't question the route she was leading them on, he followed her but didn't know why he was doing this.

As they went further into the forest distant voices could be heard. Harry looked around cautiously wondering if where they were heading was safe, but Luna didn't seem to be worried at all. Suddenly the trees seemed to cut off into a small clearing where Harry could see a group of oddly dressed people.

"I reckon we should get out of the forest," Ron said, leaning his head against the trunk of a tree. He glanced over to the others who looked doubtful at this idea.

"You know we can't go back to the clearing we found earlier, Ron," Hermione pointed out. Yet again a silence fell over the confused friends.

Neville, who had been sitting looking rather ill for the duration of the time they had spent not moving, glanced into the trees, feeling like he was going crazy. He could of sworn he saw someone move back there.

"Maybe we should get away from this part of the forest," he suggested nervously, sidling quickly closer to Ginny who gave him a confused look.

Luna grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out into the clearing their friends were lazing around. Neville made a loud noise and hid behind a tree, and everyone else jumped up in surprise, looking at the new arrivals with an expression of shock and amusement.

"It's ok Neville, it's only Harry and Luna," Ginny said, and Neville reappeared looking rather bashful. Ginny looked at the pair and frowned "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just what I was going to ask!" said Harry in exasperation, looking at each one of his friends with curiosity, taking in what they were wearing and trying to figure out who they each were.

"Harry, do you know what is going on?" Hermione asked, looking to her best friend for help.

"All I know is that we're all dressed as fairytale characters," Harry said looking around them again for confirmation. "Oh, and we must of all got here by this book," he added, pointing to the book that had gone unnoticed by the others. Luna was still holding it, but not for long as Ron and Hermione rushed over and grabbed it from her. They flipped through the pages again, in deep silence, searching for a way to get back to Hogwarts.

Ginny meanwhile was admiring Luna's dress, and they started to talk about their favourite fairy tales. After a few minutes Ron and Hermione made conjoined noises alerting the others to them; they had found something. Everyone rushed over to them and peered at what they had found in the book:

_Warning, this book is magical and unpredictable._

_Reading it may be a serious risk to your health._

_Keep well away from it!_

"That _had_ to be in the back of the book, didn't it!" Ron said in annoyance. Hermione slowly closed the book looking pensive. Then she sighed and looked at each of her friends.

"I think I know what we have to do," she said. They all looked at her expectantly. "This book is ridiculously heavy even though it just has three Fairy Tales in it. Which means that each story holds so much magic in it, it shows from the outside..."

Everyone silently agreed that that wasn't good. Hermione continued:

"I gather the only way out of this place is to live through the Fairy Tale you were reading when transported here... I am Snow White, Ginny is Little Red Riding Hood and Luna is Sleeping Beauty." she stopped for a moment, and started to flip pages back to the first story - her story. So far she'd been driven out of the city by the axe man. As she looked at the first page where this had happened, she saw that the text that described that moment was shimmering in and out of focus.

Nobody said anything, they just stood there in deep thought, until Harry looked like he was going to say something, but a noise stopped him from letting the words out. A loud howl rang through the air again, but this time it was distinctly closer. The group looked around nervously - Neville looked like he was going to faint.

"Well," Hermione said slamming the book shut, "that's your wolf, Ginny."

Ginny's eyes grew wide. Suddenly her favourite Fairy Tale was not so much fun.

"Wait, wait, wait. You say we have to live through our Fairy Tales?" Ron said, glancing to his sister back to Hermione. She nodded her reply. "But that means Ginny'll be eaten by a wolf, right?" he said slowly, a look of faint disgust appeared over his face. When no one said otherwise, he looked at them all in shock. "That's disgusting!" he exclaimed.

"That's not the only thing that'll be happening, Ron," Hermione commented. "Luna will be thrown into a deep sleep and I'll be killed by a poisonous apple."

After that followed the longest silence yet.

"Sounds like fun," said Harry weakly. The howl sounded again, and this time was too near for comfort.

"Lets move on, shall we?" said Ron, his voice unnaturally high. The rest agreed, and they gathered themselves up quickly. Hermione held the book, sometimes opening it to a particular part just to check what was going to happen. They entered into the forest again, whilst discussing what they'd have to do to get free of this alternate reality.


	4. Chapter 4

After a solid hour of walking non-stop, the group decided unannimously that they were due a break. The trees that had shrowded their view by covering the sun with their leaves were now no longer inconvenient, as they all settled their backs against one to rest their tired legs. They had all taken it in turns to carry the heavy book, which was now resting open on Luna's lap as she was the last to have held it, and she was intently reading the page she was on. Ron and Hermione were sharing a tree, Hermione's head leaning on Ron's shoulder, her eyes closed with an expression on her face that showed how fed up she was. Neville was sitting by himself, against a tree that was further out than the rest. He was visibly shaking with nerves and Harry, who was standing over by where Ginny was sitting, watched him with concern.

"So..." said Ginny, snatching Harry's attention away from Neville. "How do you feel about this Fairy Tale stuff?" her voice was strained, revealing her attempt of making light conversation was more of a panicked query.

"Well... I don't know. I don't exactly like the thought you getting eaten, or Hermione being poisoned and Luna being knocked into a coma..." he said slowly.

"I don't like the idea of being eaten either. Also," she added, glancing over to Neville and lowering her voice. "I don't know if I can trust to be rescued..."

Harry laughed slightly, agreeing. If Neville was to rescue Ginny from her woolly fate then he'd have to stop shaking at least. "Don't worry," he said reasurringly to her, "If he's not up to the job I'll save you."

Ginny smiled up to him and sighed. "I doubt you'll have time to save me this time," she muttered. "Not whilst you're battling a dragon, anyway."

Harry was about to say some more reassuring words but almost choked before he could get them out. "Excuse me?" he spluttered in shock.

"You have to get past a dragon before you can get to Sleeping Beauty and rescue her..." Ginny said looking worried. "Didn't you know that?"

It was extremely evident that Harry didn't know about the dragon, or really the tale in itself. All he had learnt was that Luna was to fall into a deep sleep, and that was enough for him to stomach. But dragons... He slumped to the ground next to her and groaned "Not again..."

Luna closed the book and cleared her throat rather loudly, causing the whole group to look over to her. "The book seems to be erasing the words that we've done," she commented. No one knew what to say to that, maybe because it was a shock, or maybe because they hadn't understood her.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Hermione asked, picking herself up from the forest floor and walking over to Luna. The Princess handed Snow White the book and told her to read the start of her story. Hermione opened to the first page and looked in disblief. "They're gone!" she whispered, but loud enough for Ron to hear her. He got up too and peered over her shoulder.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice unnaturally high in fright.

"Once we have completed our stories, I believe it shall let us go back home," Luna said, looking quite happy at this conclusion. Everyone else though, it seemed, was less pleased.

"Surely there's a loophole of some kind?" Hermione muttered, flipping hurridly through the pages of the book, looking desperately for something that would give her peace of mind. But she found nothing of the sort.

"Maybe I'm dreaming?" Ron suggested. Ginny came over and pinched him harshly on the arm, to which he let out a squeal of pain and retreated from her. "What the bloody hell was that for?" he yelled at her.

She just smiled coyly and turned to where Neville was still sitting against his tree. Being that he was the only one who hadn't moved closer to Luna and the book when she spoke, he was now her main concern. She went over to give him soothing words, trying to coax him into a more stable state of mind.

Harry sat himself next to Luna, his mind set firmly on dragons and what he'd have to do with one. Again.

He glanced to the Princess, and smiled slightly. She was enjoying this, which normally would have annoyed him if it was anyone else. He wondered how he let Luna get away with it, maybe it was because she carried it so well.

"I guess, if this is what we have to do..." said Hermione in a resigned voice, closing the book finally and looking downcast. "We should get moving, before evening sets in..."

The others agreed and once Ginny had got Neville to his feet, they started instantly along a path Hermione had picked, not questioning her as she moved swiftly along. With Ron trailing moodily along just behind her, and Ginny and Neville after him, Luna and Harry brought up the rear. Luna walked without rush, which inspired Harry to relax ever so much more whenever he glanced at her. But soon they picked up speed, Harry unaware to why his legs were going doubly as fast as they had before until he heard a shriek from the front of the group.

Pushing past Ginny and Neville, Harry ran up to where he found Ron clinging onto Hermione, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and he looked like he was holding onto her for dear life.

"Ron! What are you doing?" Harry cried, avoiding Hermione's legs which were kicking out, giving the impression she was trying to walk through the air. Ron looked at him in alarm, and was about to say something when Hermione squealed again. Harry noticed her tight grip around Rons arms and wondered what was going on. It looked like Ron was trying to restrain her, and it sounded like she wanted to break free. But her frightened eyes were not because of Ron.

"My legs!" she gasped, and Harry looked to them. They were still pushing forwards and back, walking for no reason. "They wont stop!"

Harry caught on quickly after that, and tried to work out what to do. Ginny and Neville were looking at them in shock, backing away towards a tree where they stood and watched helplessly as Harry tried to stop Hermione's legs from moving. Luna was watching with a gentle expression of amusement.

After five minutes of trying to do something, Harry stumbled away from his two best friends. His stomach was in pain for all the time Hermione's out of control legs had kicked into his stomach, but he was in much better condition then Ron, whose face was pale and sweaty.

Luna went over to Harry who was now on the ground, defeated.

"You know, she shouldn't be restrained like that," Luna commented. Everyone, including a wildly scared Hermione, looked at Luna as if she had just said an extremely vile thing.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"The spell is leading her to the next part of her story. We're just delaying the process." Luna said smiling at Ginny. She then turned to Ron. "You should let her go now, Ronald." she said quietly.

"To hell I will!" Ron gasped out, and if it wasn't for the roots of a tree he had just stumbled against, he'd of passed out from he pain of her wriggling and weight anyway. As he crashed to the ground his grasp on Hermione was lost, and her legs took complete control of her and she screamed again as she was carried along the rest of the path at high speed.

Amazingly Ron had already pulled himself up, and pushing Harry out of the way - who had gone over to him to help him up - he rushed after Hermione. The others followed suit, but no one could match the determination that Ron had to catch Hermione before anything happened.

Both had passed a deep curve in the forest so the rest could not see them. But they heard another squeal from Hermione, and Harry picked his pace up as quickly as he could, clutching onto his stomach and grimacing in pain.

Stumbling around the corner, the four came to a halt and stared in wonderment. A small clearing, letting in small light from the sky above where trees didn't cover over everything, showed a small house. It looked very out of place, its stone walls old but well kept, a windowsill with a plant was the most exciting thing about it, from the outside.

Hermione's legs were still pummelling forward, and again Ron's new found grip onto Hermione was pushed away. Hermione trying her hardest to resist.

"Her arms!" Ron wheezed. "It's got control of her arms!" Harry rushed forward, trying to grab Hermione before she got too close to the house. Her arms, just like Ron and warned, swung out and hit him painfully in the chest.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Hermione squealed, wanting to see if Harry was ok, but she couldn't. As she approached the wooden door of the house, she turned her head round and gave one last pleaing glance at Ron before her hands worked by theirselves to open the door. Harry crawled back to the others as she dissapeared into the house.


End file.
